This is the first official enewsletter of the school year. For our new families, welcome to This Week at Charlotte Lab School, our weekly enewsletter that comes out Monday evenings (or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday). By reading this email each week, you will be in the know on all that is happening at Lab--new initiatives, upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, important deadlines, school-wide accomplishments and challenges, important policies & procedures, and more! Thank you in advance for taking the time to be an "informed" parent.

As I look ahead at the school year, I am so excited about the many exciting things planned --from field trips to enrichment to an increased emphasis on personalized learning in all subjects and better ways for you to know what your child is learning. I hope you will mark your calendars for Curriculum Night on Tuesday, Sept 19 where you will have the chance to spend a "day in the life at Lab," learn more about what your child is learning in each class, and meet other staff and parents. Last year's event was a great success, and we heard from many parents how much they appreciated the information that we shared. (Note: The event is for parents of all students (grades k-6) and it will take place at the lower school campus.) 

On a more procedural note, I want to thank all of our parents for their patience with our morning and afternoon transportation processes last week--specifically the bus and carpool line. It definitely took longer than we had hoped for some buses to arrive at their stops; and while the afternoon carpool line began to run more quickly at the end of the week, we continue to work to streamline all of our transportation procedures. Here are some things that you can do to help:

• Display your blue transportation cards on your windshield as soon as you enter the carpool line;
• Make sure the school and your child know how he/she is getting home. Delays occur when we have to call students from the walker or bus lines or after school to the carpool line. If you decide to change how you are picking up your child, please notify the school by 2 pm each day using this form; 
• If you are picking up in the walker line at the lower school, please bring your student's blue transportation card with you; you may also share it by taking a picture and texting it to any other friend who may pick up your child;
• At the lower school, drop off begins at 7:45 am. Please keep in mind that the front door is only open to teachers at this time so please drop off your child using the carpool lane or park and walk up to the Student Entrance;
• Keep things moving by volunteering for morning carpool line. An extra set of hands or two will help move the line more quickly. The morning shifts run from 7:45-8:15 am at the lower school and 7:45-8:30 am at the middle school; no need to sign up in advance.
• Plan ahead! If you are in a rush, the walker line often moves faster than carpool line.
• Finally, I ask for your patience as we refine our processes and procedures, as well as your commitment to treating all of our staff with respect and as you would like to be treated. Our job is to keep your child safe at all times, and there are specific reasons for all of our transportation policies and procedures.